Original subtitles

The smaller you are,

the more unpredictable life is.

Only the size of your little fingernail,

a two-week-old unicorn mantis has very slim chances

of surviving to adulthood.

There's no knowing where life will take her.

Because her happily ever after is in human hands.

Whoa!

Looks like she just moved home

and ended up in a neglected backyard in South Texas.

To her,

it's the wild, wild west.

Full of lawless locals

and new frontiers.

Needs a bit of TLC for sure.

So, there's gonna be some big changes around here.

Lil' mantis isn't the only one who'll have to adapt.

A whole host of backyard bugs face an uncertain future.

As the human settlers begin a major makeover,

will there still be a home for little lives, too?

In towns and cities across the world,

our backyards are some of the only green spaces left,

so what we do in them has a huge impact on tiny creatures.

Springtime is backyard clearing time.

It's not just weeds that have taken over.

This place has been invaded

by one of the most unwanted bugs in Texas.

The fire ant.

She not only stings,

she also has a habit of taking over our spaces.

Her "ant-cestors" are from South America,

but they were accidentally introduced to the US

around 100 years ago.

Since then, they've spread across every southern state,

one backyard at a time.

We may not like them,

but they love us.

Well, our food at least.

With five times more scent receptors than most insects,

she's good at sniffing it out.

But feeding her family means braving us giants.

Go, go, go!

Score!

Enough to feed a family of 10,000.

Gonna need some help hauling it, though.

Better get home to tell them the good news.

Her colony has set up camp in this disused water feature.

It hasn't been easy to keep everyone fed.

But now the humans have moved in,

looks like their fortunes may change.

For better or for worse.

Backyard maintenance is keeping the new homeowners busy.

Lil' mantis has her work cut out, too.

With only four months to reach adulthood

and have babies of her own,

she has a lot of growing to do.

So, it's time to start hunting.

Watch your back, lil' mantis!

A jumping spider.

Twice her size

and very hungry.

She has excellent vision,

but not as good as his.

With four middle eyes that work like telephoto lenses,

he pinpoints his target.

There's no easy escape.

Jumping spiders are pursuit predators,

and with motion-detecting side eyes,

he follows her every move.

Luckily, staying very, very still

comes naturally to a mantis.

Phew!

With each danger avoided,

her chances of reaching adulthood increase.

But she still has a way to go.

Another insect has already come a long way just to get here.

This monarch butterfly is on the first leg

of a 3,000-mile migration from Mexico to Canada.

Now she needs to rest and refuel.

And our backyard has just what she's looking for.

Ah, sweet nectar.

This plant is a lifeline for the monarchs.

But for many of us, it's just a weed that needs to go.

But look closer, and you'll see that milkweed

has an important place in our backyard.

And now that it's getting rarer in the wild,

millions of monarchs are more dependent on gardens

where it still grows.

As spring progresses, the monarch migration hits pause.

And their minds turn to other things.

It's not long before...

Well, you get the idea.

Oh, yeah!

But making more monarchs takes a lot of energy.

Looks like she may be resting here a while longer.

The industrious little fire ant is working hard

to help her colony settle in.

She's caring for the kids,

keeping the place clean,

and her family is growing fast.

Meanwhile, this lakeside location

has become totally bougie.

Time to top it off and turn on that water feature.

Uh-oh.

Quick! All hands on deck!

Grab a baby!

Get them to higher ground!

But soon, this whole place will be submerged.

Their only chance is to stick together.

These are instinctive survival skills

from their natural rain forest home.

They're forming a living life raft.

Every day, many dramas are unfolding in bug world.

And they totally pass us by.

Incredibly, they're still together.

Kept afloat with air bubbles

trapped by their waxy, waterproof bodies.

But inevitably some get separated,

cast adrift in a vast ocean.

Now the ants need to get ashore,

but there's no land for miles.

Well, ant miles at least.

Hey! Not so heavy with the hands!

Actually, that could be just the steer they needed.

But that Elvis hair is getting a little top-heavy.

Oh, no!

Our girl's gone overboard.

Swim, swim for your life!

Just a little closer.

Phew!

Okay, ant raft reassemble.

All paddle in the same direction.

Stay united for the final push.

Land ahoy!

Finally, safe and dry.

By putting the lives of others before their own,

the colony has survived.

Time for these little "anty" heroes

to do what they do best:

embrace change and go find a new home.

Spring is turning into summer.

And the backyard is coming along nicely.

Lil' mantis has been doing some changing, too.

In the six weeks since arriving here,

she's grown a whole inch.

But if she's to reach adulthood,

she needs to up her hunting game.

Luckily, she can spot activity 60 feet away.

The vegetable garden.

Might not seem like the best option for a strict carnivore,

but where there's salad,

there's bound to be a main dish.

Using her incredible eyes,

she can see in 3D

and triangulate moving targets.

Ah-ha.

A fidgeting stink bug.

That'll do nicely.

Just calculate its position, and...

Whoa!

Watch out, lady!

Oh, wait.

Guess it helps to be a cute bug around here.

Landed on her feet.

This is gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Only aphids, not a plant.

She's quick on the draw, too.

Twice as fast as you can blink.

And those leg spikes mean

she's always got the next one on deck.

And she's not just helping herself.

By taking care of pest control,

she helps keep the plants healthy, too.

Oh, no!

Not you again.

There's no getting away from this super smart spider.

He can work out where she's going,

plan ahead...

...and take a shortcut.

Lil' mantis just walked straight into his trap.

Ah-ha!

See ya later, loser.

This unpredictable human world can be brutal to bugs.

But for lil' mantis, it's working out just fine.

The future is not so bright for the monarch.

Her migration all the way from Mexico has taken its toll.

This is the end of the road.

But the journey isn't over.

The baton has been passed to the next generation.

Once ready to fly,

they'll continue the marathon monarch relay.

So this baby better get growing.

And she's hatched in the perfect place.

The milkweed that kept mom going

is the only thing she eats.

In just two weeks...

...she's 2,000 times bigger.

Milkweed is poisonous to most.

But she can use the toxins to make herself taste bad,

and her bright colors warn predators

that she's not so appetizing.

Keeping her alive long enough

to prepare for an amazing transformation.

After a major growth spurt,

lil' mantis is also ready for a costume change.

This exoskeleton is so last season.

She needs to be quick;

she can't breathe while she's molting.

Ahh! That's better.

Throughout her life, she molts eight times.

And to keep her hopes of becoming a mom alive,

she needs to eat as often as she can.

But that's not so easy.

When night falls,

she doesn't see so well.

Ah, that's better.

Now that the hard work is over,

the homeowners are ready to entertain.

There's guests, drinks,

and party food.

As long as the lights are on, the bug buffet is open.

Time to deploy her superpower.

Whoa! Dramatic head turn.

No big deal to us,

but a lot of other insects can only keep it dead ahead.

It gives her a hunting advantage.

Suddenly, chances of reaching adulthood seem much brighter.

She's not the only one attracted to our electricity.

The fire ant colony has set up closer to home, too.

It seems a safe place.

But now, the little worker is picking up distress signals.

Ant down.

An SOS she can't ignore.

She shares crucial intelligence with other workers,

and they rush to the rescue.

But it's too late.

Killed by an invisible enemy,

hidden within the wires.

No one knows why fire ants are drawn to electricity.

But all too often,

it leads to a dead end.

As more ants come to the rescue,

more ants get shocked and release more pheromones.

And so,

the vicious cycle of death continues.

Soon, there are so many bugs in the system,

it short circuits.

For homeowners, it can be annoying.

But for our little workers colony,

it could be lights out.

Living alongside humans takes some getting used to.

But come midsummer, most of the bugs are right at home here.

Lil' mantis stuck to her growth targets.

A new molt every two weeks.

And now, she's made that leap into adulthood.

Lookin' good!

And ready to go find that guy.

No, not him.

Seriously?

He's looking meaner than ever.

But now she's five times bigger than him.

It's payback time.

You just got owned.

Okay. Back to that "looking for love" situation.

Offers aren't exactly flooding in.

But she has ways of making herself more attractive.

Feminine pheromones.

Someone's on the pickup already.

A male with long, thick antennae.

Her scent is alluring for sure.

But tread carefully.

Female mantises have a thing for biting off heads.

I'm sure they'll work it out.

At least most of the backyard bugs are still standing.

Even our little fire ant made it through.

Not gonna lie, the first few months here have been tough.

But as always, this antsy little survivor

will pick herself up again

and keep trying to make a home here.

For others, it's time to move on.

The transformation is complete

for the last of the backyard butterflies.

A little migrating marvel,

picking up where mom left off.

It takes two more generations to go the distance.

So, the legacy of the monarchs who first arrived

in this backyard will continue into Canada,

carried by their great grandchildren.

And as long as the milkweed is left to grow,

they'll be back here next year.

As we take over more of the natural world,

creating a little space for nature

becomes more important than ever.

Add all the backyards in the US together,

and they cover an area almost as big as Florida.

The small things we do and don't do

can have a huge impact on little lives.

And there's no better sign of a healthy home

than a backyard buzzin' with bugs.

Lil' mantis may only have weeks left to live,

but her life is complete.

She's become a mom to a new generation

of tiny unicorns.

So, one way or another, this will be her forever home.